
Chern-Simons Theory, Matrix Models, and Topological Strings
Marcos Marino(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 22. September 2005
Book
Hardback
212 pages
978-0-19-856849-0 (ISBN)
Description
In recent years, the old idea that gauge theories and string theories are equivalent has been implemented and developed in various ways, and there are by now various models where the string theory / gauge theory correspondence is at work. One of the most important examples of this correspondence relates Chern-Simons theory, a topological gauge theory in three dimensions which describes knot and three-manifold invariants, to topological string theory, which is deeply related to Gromov-Witten invariants. This has led to some surprising relations between three-manifold geometry and enumerative geometry. This book gives the first coherent presentation of this and other related topics. After an introduction to matrix models and Chern-Simons theory, the book describes in detail the topological string theories that correspond to these gauge theories and develops the mathematical implications of this duality for the enumerative geometry of Calabi-Yau manifolds and knot theory. It is written in a pedagogical style and will be useful reading for graduate students and researchers in both mathematics and physics willing to learn about these developments.
Reviews / Votes
The book gives a good overview of the developments in the field, in which its author has himself played an important role. The book shows nicely how the different ideas are related, and how they can be combined to allow one to do very explicit calculations. * Marcel L. Vonk, Mathematical Reviews *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Numerous line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
487 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-856849-0 (9780198568490)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Marcos Marino, Department of Theoretical Physics, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland and Department of Mathematics, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal
Content
PART I: MATRIX MODELS, CHERN-SIMONS THEORY, AND THE LARGE N EXPANSION; PART II: TOPOLOGICAL STRINGS; PART III: THE TOPOLOGICAL STRING / GAUGE THEORY CORRESPONDENCE